Structure of the FSB: Central apparatus. Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation Operational technical department of the FSB

The other day, employees of the most secret unit of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Operational Search Directorate, celebrated their professional holiday... For a long time, the abbreviation OPU itself did not mean anything to the majority of ordinary residents of the country, and the criminal world had no idea about the existence of its own police intelligence within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Meanwhile, the history of the police surveillance service itself began back in 1938, and thus on September 29, 2003, the soldiers of the invisible front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs celebrated their 65th anniversary.
External surveillance, or spying service, has existed in Russia for a long time. Before the revolution, the “toptuns” were subordinate to the security departments and were focused on working against the “then” subversive elements. After the establishment of Soviet power, outdoor surveillance was used only by security officers, until in 1938 a purely police unit was created in the NKVD system, specialized in working in the criminal world.

For a long time, intelligence was called the 7th Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, or colloquially the “Seven”. In 1991, outdoor advertising received management status and its current name - the Operational Search Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia. In February 1996, the Ministry of Internal Affairs officially approved the regulations on the operational search department; in addition, the work of the unit is regulated by several top secret orders. In each regional and regional police department there are departments of the police department, and they deal with the same issues everywhere.

By the way, the first time police “outdoor surveillance” was widely publicized was in October 1996 in Moscow, when the security of the then Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Lebed detained a brigade of the OPU, which, as the security suspected, was “herding” their patron. The detained “opushniks” were even filmed and the story was broadcast on state television.

Let us immediately note that the majority of the employees of the operational control department, or as they were previously called “surveillance intelligence officers,” are part of the police staff. This means that the “opushniks” are listed as employees of various civilian enterprises or as completely unemployed.

They have cover documents in their hands: IDs of social and public service workers, journalists or simply military personnel. In the Main Department of Internal Affairs of the Perm region, the management of the police department and one of the dispatchers (accepts applications for surveillance, coordinates the work of surveillance teams and initiators of the task) are located in the building of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate, but the location of the headquarters and a number of bases (previously they were called safe houses, in police slang - “cuckoos”) ") is a state secret.

The OPU office can be disguised as some kind of construction and installation department, civil defense department or military unit. The vehicles in which the scouts work have so-called "requirements for vehicle", or simply put, an "all-terrain coupon" prohibiting the traffic police from inspecting the car.

True, with the appearance on sale different databases data - like "Megapolis", there is no secrecy and it is being violated. In the same “Megapolis”, which can be freely purchased at the Central Market, in the “Cars and Owners” section, there are a dozen cars registered with the OPU of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate of the Perm Region, including the 1st department of the OPU, stationed in Berezniki.

What does “outdoor” do? The range of work is quite extensive. This includes covert surveillance of persons involved in criminal and operational cases, ensuring operations to capture extortionists or disperse thieves’ gatherings. In addition, obtaining as complete information as possible about the private life of the “object of operational interest.” This is called an operational installation at the place of residence. It looks something like this: a woman comes to the defendant’s neighbors and introduces herself, say, as a worker pension fund and as the conversation progresses, he carefully asks about the everyday behavior of his neighbors, including the person involved. Pensioners are of particular value to installers - vigilant old men and women are simply a storehouse of valuable information, they always know who comes home when, has a row with their wife, and other everyday data.

In addition, in the OPU there are such concepts as “operational search” and “reconnaissance and search activities.” RPM can be ordered both for an entire neighborhood and for a specific commercial company. Then police intelligence will record all visitors, record all license plates of cars parked near the office, and so on. According to some reports, outdoor surveillance also helps in the work of another secret unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - the Directorate of Operational and Technical Measures, which is responsible for wiretapping telephone conversations, covert audio monitoring of premises and other technical intelligence. So, “outdoor security” ensures security when equipping an apartment or room with “bookmarks” - it makes sure that the object of development, God forbid, does not appear at home and does not catch the technicians at work.

The operating procedure for outdoor surveillance is strictly regulated. In order to put “legs” behind a person, you must obtain a court sanction, permission from the head of the operational unit. After this, a special numbered task form is filled out (it is secret only after filling out). The application indicates the person’s data, the basis for carrying out operational search activities and as much known information about the object as possible: address, car number, telephone number, nickname, contacts. It is separately indicated whether the object is aware of unspoken methods of work. And then - what exactly is required from “outdoor surveillance”: conduct covert surveillance, surveillance with video documentation, with secret audio recording or operational installation in the address. After the forest guards complete the task, reports will be delivered to the initiator by special mail or courier. All this data is filed in an operational file and extremely rarely comes up in a criminal case, or even more so in a trial.

But as elsewhere, violations occur even in this secret unit. For example, last year, employees of the Voronezh FSB Directorate detained the deputy head of the Voronezh Internal Affairs Directorate, who was selling information from the police intelligence database to bandits. For this he received a year in prison. In Perm, apparently, there were no such cases. There were, however, rumors that during the election campaign in 1999 in the north of the region, an outdoor surveillance brigade worked against the headquarters of one of the candidates, but these rumors could not be confirmed or refuted.

In general, the work of the employees of the public control department, although interesting, is also very thankless. The salary is at the general police level, the only privilege is that a year of service is considered one and a half. And the downside is long working hours, communication with various crooks and complete secrecy. Only the spouse can know about the place of work, and only in general terms.

Although the decryptions can be funny. They tell, for example, the following case. Once, several tipsy men were taken to one of the Perm police departments. One of them told the duty officer that he was an employee of the Seven. After the investigation and clarification, the “opushnik’s” colleagues came to the district department and took him to freedom. And after some time, some vigilant grandmother called the same regional department and told about a suspicious car and gloomy guys in the cabin. The arriving squad checked the documents of the driver and passengers - they turned out to be mechanics. But bad luck - one of the policemen recognized one of the “locksmiths” as a recent drunken “seven student”, which he loudly and joyfully announced to the whole yard.

Konstantin STERLEDEV

The FSB noisily announced the detention of its former colleagues, Alexey Smirnov and Alexey Mikhailenko, who, according to investigators, were involved in illegal telephone wiretapping and surveillance of high-ranking officials and metropolitan businessmen. At the same time, special forces raided the main office of the Belgan private security company, where during the search they allegedly found listening equipment, details of telephone conversations (billings) and a large sum of money. In turn, the representative Investigative Committee reported that employees of the technical centers of MTS OJSC and VimpelCom OJSC are also involved in the criminal case, allegedly transferring copies of SMS messages and personal data of citizens to Smirnov and Mikhailenko. Novaya tried to figure out what is behind this scandal.

The FSB press release does not say who exactly was being surveilled. However, according to sources close to the security forces, in Lately Smirnov and Mikhailenko allegedly “on the order of one millionaire senator worked closely with their immediate circle former governor Gromov’s Moscow region and Moscow connections of the head of the Krasnodar region - Tkachev.” Our other source, on the contrary, stated that “both Alexei did not get involved in politics and worked exclusively for businessmen, their wives and mistresses”

Little is known about Alexey Smirnov: he served in the FSB OPU (operational search department - that is, just surveillance and wiretapping) and after his dismissal he went into the security business. Alexey Mikhailenko was born in Moscow in 1974, graduated from the FSB Academy and worked “in his specialty.” During his service, he sometimes used cover documents in the name of Leonid Goncharenko. After resigning, he founded a commercial company and provided consulting services to businessmen.

As stated in the Investigative Committee, Smirnov and Mikhailenko hired employees of the Belgan private security company, based in Mnevniki, to spy on officials. This private security company was founded in 1997 by former military officers and security officers Valery Gankov, Grigory Beletsky, Roman Kosyrev, Evgeny Sergeev and Sergey Gribanenkov. For example, Mr. Gankov served in army intelligence, then in the 9th Directorate of the KGB (protection of senior officials), and then worked in the security service of Panasonic.

On the website of the Belgan private security company, it is not without pride that they provided protection for “representatives of the government of Vietnam, relatives and children of the presidents of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine (Yanukovych), and the number of large clients includes the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rublevo-Uspensky Medical and Health Complex "Administrative Department of the President of the Russian Federation (village Zhukovka, Gorki-6, village Maslovo, Uspenskoye, Petrovo-Dalnee)." However, the UDP was quick to disavow such an “acquaintance,” declaring that the protection of government facilities is carried out exclusively by the FSO.

Soldiers of the Belgan private security company have been included in police reports more than once. 2001: employees of the 3rd company of the traffic police department of the South-Western Administrative Inspectorate detained security guard Stepan K., who was found to be in possession of 1 gram of heroin. 2003: security guard Alexey B. stabbed citizen Tsymbala in a drunken quarrel. And in 2006, Alexander Yudin, who was guarding the office of the Two Capitals bank, late at night let three unknown people in, mistaking them for management. As a result, the poor security guard and the bank employee were severely beaten, tied with tape, and more than 1 million rubles were taken out of the financial institution.

Very saturated market

As you know, according to the law in our country, only the Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB, FSO, SVR, GRU, FSIN, FSKN and customs have the right to conduct operational investigative activities. In practice, everything is different: you can hire professional “stompers” and buy special equipment using advertisements on the Internet.

Here, for example: “We will provide assistance to wealthy people: personal security, cargo escort, personal security driver (possible with a Ministry of Internal Affairs certificate), special measures to tap phones. The staff consists of former and current employees of special forces, officers on special assignments of the government of the Russian Federation. Alexey ******@mail.ru.”

In addition, large companies and banks have their own security services, equipped with the latest special equipment. Plus, they have entire departments of active security officials on their payroll. All kinds of private security companies founded by former police officers and FSB officers are not far behind. Their operational capabilities are quite comparable to official structures, and they often work much more efficiently. And most importantly - cheaper.

For example, the mother of Sergei P., a hostage taken in 2007, said the following:

— When the bandits got in touch and announced a ransom, I went to Petrovka 38, but there they told me that they did not have the necessary equipment or material resources, and they announced an unrealistic price. Then I contacted the FSB. And at Lubyanka they also began to hint to me that I needed to pay 50 thousand dollars for a special vehicle capable of detecting criminals. And then I went to a private investigator. He honestly said how much everything would cost, that among the bandits there were probably employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, and he soon identified them. Of course, it wasn't cheap. But the main thing is that the son survived!

Another story will soon be heard in court. I mean Lieutenant Colonel Pavlyuchenkov, the head of the 4th department of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate (operational search service), who, according to investigators, involved his current and former employees in spying on future victims of killers. The employees did not hide in their testimony that they very often engaged in “hack work”: the fee was $100 per hour of observation. Now Pavlyuchenkov has been charged in the case of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya, and he is also testifying in the murder of Paul Klebnikov. Even earlier, in 2008, a criminal case against Pavlyuchenkov’s subordinate, an employee of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate Lebedev, was separated into separate proceedings for abuse of official authority.

Sometimes private detectives, capable of wiretapping telephone conversations and conducting surveillance, are attracted by the security forces themselves, who are waging internecine wars.

In this regard, we can recall the sensational criminal case on the “Three Pillars” (furniture smuggling) and Chinese contraband that arrived at the warehouse of military unit 54729 (FSB UMTO). Then, on Putin’s instructions, Lieutenant General of the FSKN Alexander Bulbov began identifying corrupt security officers, who involved in the operation the former deputy head of the 4th department of the FSKN, Alexander Gusev, who at that time was working as a private detective. Apparently, Gusev collected significant incriminating evidence on the Lubyanka generals, since he was soon arrested by FSB officers.

Consequence of high competition

As for the versions of the arrest of Smirnov and Mikhailenko and the search in the Belgan private security company, opinions among our experts were divided. Some believe that another war has begun between security structures for a place in the sun, and the initiator must be looked for among competitors with strong ties to the FSB. Other experts do not rule out that the security forces are pretty tired of private detectives who cut prices for clients, and “now they will be under full pressure.” Still others believe that the arrests were made thanks to the testimony of the same Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, who made a deal with the investigation and now earns additional “bonuses”, since there is, perhaps, no more knowledgeable person in this market. The fourth remember loud scandal with wiretaps of conversations between Moscow pimps and elite prostitutes who discussed their relationships with high-ranking officials: then the recordings ended up on the Internet ( see Novaya publication “Vasi Agency”), and many of the clients mentioned in them became very angry and demanded to find the culprits...

“Novaya” contacted the founder of the private security company “Belgan” Valery Gankov, this is what he replied: “The attack on us is connected with a serious tender. Everything else on TV is editing. Money and equipment are found from others and shown. We had a search on July 12. There are no complaints. The hype is because of our clients. And sue NTV as much as you want (we show what they give)! Draw conclusions. I have a reputation and 17 years of work behind me.”

Be that as it may, there is an intensification of competition in this specific market, divided between current and former employees of intelligence services and law enforcement agencies.

That Russian intelligence services They secretly recorded him on video having fun with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel. It is difficult to verify this information, but The Insider was able to find out that compromising records of visiting foreigners is a common practice for FSB officers. Among other things, The Insider learned how the collection of incriminating video evidence is organized, which intelligence units are involved in this, and how Donald Trump could be monitored.

Curators

All Moscow large hotels where foreigners stay are supervised by the FSB Operations and Search Directorate (OPU). The tasks of the “opushniks” include identity verification foreign guests, collecting information, as well as assistance to other FSB departments conducting their counterintelligence activities in hotels.

Each employee of the administrative department is assigned a hotel room in which he holds confidential meetings, rests or “cuts” in computer games. Among the staff there are voluntary informants from among administrators, security guards, waiters, maids and cooks. Hotel management does not like informers, but is forced to tolerate them.

As a former curator of one of the capital's large hotels told The Insider, “When the bosses demanded results, I asked the recruited maid to bend down as low as possible so that the foreigner could see her panties.” Sometimes the bait worked, and soon a video with intimate incriminating evidence ended up on the boss’s desk, and other recruiting approaches were in full swing in relation to the unlucky guest. In another case, the guard asked “his” prostitute to quietly take out the guest’s shoes and they were checked for the presence of “beacons.”

Of course, the Ritz-Carlton on Tverskaya Street also has its own curator. Thus, in 2009, during the official visit of US President Barack Obama to Russia, Roman L., an FSB officer assigned to the hotel, detained Nigerian citizen Obasi Prince Henry, who was trying to enter the presidential chambers under the guise of security. During the search, Obasi was found to have diplomatic card No. 014265, issued by the Department of State Protocol of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria, and he introduced himself as the director of the economic department of the embassy. However, the Nigerian Embassy stated that they did not issue any diplomatic documents to the fellow countryman and do not know for what purpose he wanted to meet with President Obama.

Hotel curators from the FSB operating department have their own hidden video equipment and, on occasion, as mentioned above, they themselves can make the necessary movie. For more complex scenarios, “directors” from the Operational and Technical Measures Directorate (OTM) of the FSB are involved in the case, or employees of friendly private security companies and detective agencies, staffed by the same former FSB officers, are involved. The latter do not need to ask for permission from a judge or management to carry out covert operational activities, and if something happens, they will always be “excused.”

For example, in the capital for a long time Fulfilling the delicate requests of his colleagues was former FSB OTTM employee Alexey Smirnov, who had an entire arsenal of “bugs” and hidden video cameras built into ties, buttons and glasses. In 2013, a high-ranking official complained to the FSB about the ex-chekist, who was blackmailed with “bathhouse” filming. But they did not have time to interrogate Smirnov, because he strangely died in his car. During a search in his apartment, they found a voluminous video archive with incriminating evidence on several officials, large businessmen, including their former colleagues from the FSB OTTM.

Hotel

The five-star Ritz-Carlton hotel rarely ends up in crime reports, but it still happens: mainly, it is the theft of phones and money from guests. Perhaps the most notorious incident occurred on November 7, 2012, when 25-year-old Natalya L, a native of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, fell out of a hotel window and died. According to some reports, the girl worked part-time as a prostitute, and was ordered by a drunk businessman who arrived from St. Petersburg.

The owner of the Ritz-Carlton is the former head of the presidential administration of Kazakhstan Bulat Utemuratov. In 2011, he purchased the hotel for $700 million and, according to experts, the figure of Nursultan Nazarbayev himself, who stays in the presidential suite during his visits to Moscow, loomed behind the deal.

As a matter of fact, there is no hotel room called “presidential” at the Ritz-Carlton. But there are five suites: the smallest is “executive” with a separate seating area - 64 m2. The largest is the Ritz-Carlton Suite, with a library, grand piano and meeting room, occupying a total area of ​​237 m2. The windows “offer an unforgettable view of the Kremlin, Red Square, St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.” In 2015, the room was renovated and the design was completely changed. The cost of the night is $18 thousand.

View from the Ritz-Carlton room

In 2009, during an official visit to the Russian Federation, US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle stayed in this room. Judging by the report of former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, in 2013, Donald Trump also stayed in the Ritz-Carlton Suite when he arrived to negotiate the construction of sports facilities for the World Cup. The Englishman refers to certain sources who claim that hidden video cameras are allegedly installed in the rooms.

Igor Latynin

Perhaps the most popular brothels were the sauna at the Berlin Hotel on Kakhovka and the sex salon on Smolnaya Street. In addition to professional prostitutes, young students of the capital's universities, gay boys and massage therapists were offered to the services of wealthy clients. At first, Latynin, like all Moscow pimps, paid tribute to corrupt law enforcement officers - from 50 to 70 thousand rubles monthly from each point (the editorial office has a telephone wiretap of Latynin, where he tells who he paid for the “roof”).

Thus, among the “protectors” he mentioned the criminal investigation colonel from the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Southern Administrative District Viktor B., nicknamed Bes. While still serving in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Bes somehow managed to obtain a residence permit in the United States. He is also known for the fact that he simultaneously “protected” a dozen Moscow pimps and drug dealers and, according to operational data, in 2010, while on vacation in the Dominican Republic, he advised by telephone “where to take out and hide the body” of the senior detective of the 1st, who was killed in a brothel department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation for the Central Federal District, Vladimir Konstantinov, who was shot with a traumatic gun by the guard of prostitutes Artem Rybkin.

Victor B. (Demon)

Now Bes has disappeared, and on his page on social networks he posted a photo of an eagle against the background of an American flag.

Soon, golden times came for the pimp Latynin: an official document from the FSB Department of Internal Affairs arrived by special mail to the Moscow Main Internal Affairs Directorate with a request “not to carry out operational activities in the saunas owned by Eledoz LLC” and law enforcement officers were strictly forbidden not only to take bribes, but even close approach the doors of intimate salons. And the owner of the brothels himself was called to Petrovka-38 and had a confidential conversation with him.

Here is a fragment of the telephone wiretapping available at the editorial office:

Latynin:I haven't seen this letter myself, but high ranks I was instructed not to use drugs and not to be “slammed” by the cops. The guys from the FSB held their events, they exhibited equipment in saunas in Severny and Central districts. And many people thought that I was under the FSB and stopped taking money.

Subscriber:Gosha. And than?

Latynin:In short, they left me behind; I didn’t pay anyone for a long time.

Through its channels, The Insider obtained a list of employees of Eledoz LLC, and one of the sauna workers, on the basis of anonymity, said that of the clients whom the security officers filmed, she remembers “two Arabs and a smiling Englishman.”

For ex-grushnik Latynin, the “freebie” ended in 2014: operatives from the Main Directorate for Criminal Investigation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs investigated the death of a prostitute from Uzbekistan and contacted the police “roof” who were trying to hush up the criminal case.

Rector Latynin and his bathhouse business, who had contacts with corrupt police officers, also came into view. However, as we remember, he had a safe conduct letter from the FSB and the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, personally intervened in the matter.

Latynin’s detention was shown on all federal channels, and high-ranking officials from the capital’s headquarters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs promised that the pimp would be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Meanwhile, the criminal case has remained silent for almost two years and the main defendants have been released.

The police officers who had been milking the rector for several years also avoided criminal liability, and what’s more, some of them were promoted. For example, the head of a department from the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department and his friend from the Internal Affairs Directorate of the South-Western Administrative District have now taken the chairs of the heads of one of the police departments in New Moscow and are positioning themselves as principled fighters against prostitution.

Another “milkmaid” officer from the Central Administrative District Internal Affairs Directorate, despite the presence of extensive incriminating evidence, moved to the GUBEPIK of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the “special officer” from the Central Administrative District Internal Affairs Directorate who sold the operational case against him to Latynin is quietly resting in retirement (all the names of the editorial office are known).